Going the Distance: SBH Marathon

I don’t know if you know what it feels like to finish a half marathon. After months and months of training, hundreds of hours of jogging and stretching, and then jogging some more, it all boiled down to one morning and 13.1 miles.

Now, picture adding in the fact that just days prior to that euphoric morning, you raised money through sponsorships for one of the most amazing organizations in our community, and that all of those people were counting on you finishing. But it wasn’t just you that did it. Over 160 others in the community, including some of your closest friends who ran alongside you, did just the same. Along the course, as each mile began to feel endless and the Florida heat began to kick in, familiar faces popped up in the middle of the crowd, cheering you on until the very last foot.

Team SBH recently crossed the finish line of Disney’s Princess Half Marathon. We actually did it. Three months ago when I wrote an article about getting ready for the big day, I couldn’t have imagined the weekend would be such a success. Believe me, I had very high expectations. I thought there was absolutely no way that they would be surpassed. I was very mistaken.

Throughout the trip, we kept hearing how the Team SBH committee thought they’d have a team of 35 to 40 runners, maybe even 50 if they were lucky. I guess you can blame it on the snowball effect, but that number turned out to be 220 members, 160 of whom were runners and the rest our “cheering squad,” arrived in Orlando, Florida. Team SBH members ranged in age from high school freshmen to grandparents and every age in between. We had the runners, the “Team Mothers,” the trainers, the committee members, and most importantly, the cheer squad, who flew all the way to Florida just to support us. It was the perfect mix.

After a very delicious Shabbat dinner and lunch catered by Kings Highway Glatt (and a few necessary hours pool side to prep our tans for the big race), everybody came together. We truly were one team. Ask any accomplished runner you know and they will tell you how important it is to have a positive mental attitude before starting a race of any length. In fact, after this weekend you can ask any of the runners from Team SBH and they’ll agree.

The committee members knew that every single moment leading up to the half-marathon was about getting us pumped and ready. We heard from a number of people at our Saturday night pasta party exactly why we were running. We heard from a cancer patient, who described how much SBH Medstar has helped since her diagnosis, making her battle with cancer as easy as possible. We heard from some of the social workers at SBH, who explained where the money was going, how important volunteering is, and of course, how surprised they were by the weekend’s success. They explained exactly how important each sponsor was, and more importantly, how crucial it was that we didn’t just stop at collecting money.

Putting a weekend like this together was not an easy task. It wasn’t a seminar, although we did eat nonstop, as if it were. It wasn’t a bake sale or a Chinese auction, where all the hard work leads to just one or two days. This was something new, something that no one in the community had ever tried. Taking hundreds of people away for an entire weekend involved so many different details and tasks. Add to that a bevy of other crucial things like making sure we were properly hydrated, we knew how to use our D-Tags and bib numbers and calming the nerves of each runner, over and over again. It took a team to make our team work, literally. Headed by Charles Anteby, the committee really took care of every detail. Sixteen amazing captains led by Joey Sasson, Isaac Sasson, Merle Kassab, Abie R Cohen, Linda Mizrahi, and Danielle Wahba took care of every detail in advance, without even knowing what to expect.

“I was particularly inspired by how young the Marathon committee was, and yet these humble fabulous people did not make one mistake—everything was perfect,” said Jack Scaba, who went to support his wife Alinne, and watched as his friend Salomon literally jumped off the sidelines at the Magic Kingdom spectator spot (mile 5.3) and ran to the finish line.

Iris Shalam, our head trainer, couldn’t contain her excitement and enthusiasm if she tried, all while answering every single question and concern we had throughout the weekend in preparation.

“Being a part of Team SBH was about more than just training the group to run 13.1 miles,” explained Iris. “It was about giving them the courage to accomplish a goal that a lot of them thought was impossible. Seeing everyone cross the finish line with huge smiles on their faces was priceless!” Her teams of trainers gave up a Shabbat with their families to come to Disney and run with us and were just as excited to see us cross the finish line as we were. Michelle Sasson and Helene Shamah adopted all 156 runners for the weekend, treating each one of us like we were their own children.

The tears at the finish line may have only lasted a few minutes, and the limping and strained voices may have only lasted a few days, but it was a weekend that every single one of us will remember for the rest of our lives. We couldn’t be more excited to relive it over and over again with Frieda Sitt’s video that captured everything from the first mile we ever ran to the finish line.

As Charles told us on the eve of the marathon, it doesn’t just stop here. Running 13.1 miles should serve as the starting line for what comes next.

“Of course all the money we raised will make a huge difference, but there’s something that each and every one of you can bring to the table.”

“They set their goal and they reached it and they couldn’t be happier,” said Joey Sasson. “We could not have asked for a better group of people to represent Team SBH and I can’t wait to see how big it grows next year.”
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Sarah Sarway is 19 years old. She is studying media and mass communications at Hunter College.